Court of Dreams: Local Author Releases Third Novel

Local author Stuart Sharp’s novel Court of Dreams, published by Pink Narcissus Press, releases on 18th January.

The comic fantasy novel is Sharp’s third, after a couple of previous urban fantasy efforts, and has been called ‘entertaining’ by publishers’ weekly. It’s a funny romp of a story, following the fortunes of unlikely hero Thomas Greene as he is sucked into the otherworldly Court of Dreams and playing with everything you thought you knew about magical fairy kingdoms.

Stuart said “I started this at the tail end of doing a PhD at the University of Hull, after deciding that writing deeply silly stories was a lot more fun than translating medieval charters. It started life as simply a parody of the glut of urban faerie (or possibly fairy, these people never seem to be able to settle on a spelling) stuff at the moment, but quickly became something considerably stranger. The book should be suitable for anyone from fourteen up who likes their fantasy fiction with plenty of jokes in.”

The paperback version of the book officially goes on sale from the 18th of January, and is available either directly from the publishers or through Amazon.co.uk. The e-book version is already out.

Excerpt: “When it came to hunting, lurking, and general violence, Grave was a master. He’d been there, done that, and had only failed to buy the t-shirt because they didn’t make them in sizes large enough. He could have written not only the book, but probably also several largish appendices, provided someone gave him some help with the longer words. He’d even tried it once when he was much younger, getting as far as the illustrations before he realised that a cave wall probably wasn’t the most portable choice of medium.”

Overview: Life is difficult enough when you’re getting ready to head out into the real world and your relationship is falling apart at the seams. It doesn’t get any easier when you fall sideways into a fantasy world populated by vicious princesses, roving nightmares, and figments of your imagination, all embroiled in the post-war politics of an expansive battle between dimensions. Join unlikely hero Thomas Greene on his comical journey through the Court of Dreams, a hidden world filled with the magic and the weirdest assortment of enemies and allies imaginable.

• Court of Dreams